Seeking An S.O.S.: Behind The Scenes

37. Let it all Shine Down

Lounging on an umfa, an alien version of a sofa, Xabiere closed his eyes as both of his chubby hands pointed outward. His antennas twitched as he awakened from his slumber. Raising his hands upwards and stretching them from the ground up, made him feel better.

These brief meditation methods he learned helped him calm down after the stressful voyage with his annoying companion went awry. It was not what he expected, but after Murdock's amma's death, Xabiere made a promise to take care of him. He'd feel guilty if he literally left his friend alone up in space.

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During Xabiere's travels in the 1970's, an intoxicated earthling wasn't afraid to approach him and welcomed the Plutonian into their group. The druggie thought the alien was a human in disguise, and taught Xabiere yoga exercises and how to handle peer pressure. For laughs, Xabiere even added his own versions to the activity. For instance, instead of just doing a headstand, Xabiere would balance a ball with his feet at the same time. Xabiere would also exercise his antennas as he didn't have ears to  alleviate. Thus, Xabiere believed if he were asked to perform in a circus, he would gladly accept the offer.

But no matter how thankful he was, Xabiere was flabbergasted as to why these Flower Children, as Earthlings of that era called themselves, weren't afraid of his scrawny little body. They accepted him as an equal and Xabiere was fond of that. At first, he didn't think the drugs and alcohol these people took deeply affected their minds, until Xabiere took a sniff of the marijuana and other pills they had lying on a table. The offending powdery odor caused the alien's sensors to go haywire and had a hunch that these Hippies led a troubled lifestyle he didn't want to be a part of. Thus. it caused him to depart the planet as soon as possible.

However, Druggie died a month later after the Plutonian left Earth, and once Xabiere learned about the death through his receptors, he flew back to give his respects on the man's grave. He felt guilty by leaving his side, but Xabiere knew it wasn't his fault that the human fell to his demise. After all, the man chose his own lifestyle. And Xabiere knew that if his friend wasn't addicted to the poison he took, they might not have been close chums at all. Thus, he concluded that these events might have taken place for a good reason.

However, Xabiere was told not to get too attached to Earthlings anymore as he was reprimanded by his superiors. His bond with Druggie could have exposed them to their own deaths, and that would also destroy all of alien kind later on.

Xabiere later learned that there was a spy among his peers that knew about his excursions and ratted him out to Pluto's leader. And that was another reason why Pluto's royalty despised seeing Xabiere's presence.

However, the alien didn't listen to such nonsense as he believed that if he stopped exploring the unknown , he'd be missing out on any discoveries the alien kind hasn't found yet. He was not in it for greed, but it was his own curiosity that told him not to back down.

Unfortunately as the future decades went on, humans started treating foreigners, especially aliens from outer space, differently. Once in the 1980's, a woman caught Xabiere spying on her as she was entering her house and screamed. He too was startled and quickly ran away, but in doing so, he left alien residue as evidence. The woman found the disgusting fecal matter the next day and called paranormal investigators to inspect the scene.

From that day forward, Xabiere learned his lesson and started to disguise himself during his visits.

But little did the Plutonian know that the daydreams he dreamt came true. Xabiere's powers on making memories come true came alive. Albeit, he didn't have any idea that it crossed over to the parallel dimension where his altered self interfered with humankind, but what happened was for the best.

What he envisioned was to grant the wish of the woman he helped earlier on Earth, as Martina longed to meet a certain person that she kept voicing out.

Hearing the words "Frankie" over and over in his mind caused his other 'self' in dreamland to write an anonymous letter to a male Earthling located in Oregon. Xabiere also saw a connection to how this Eartling was related to the warden of Iron Heights Correctional Facility, so the alien smiled as he believed this was the right decision to do.

Xabiere focused on the name Frankie and the last name of Smith came to mind. In his dream, he was able to contact Frankie Smith through his antennae, to tell him that his former girlfriend wanted to say goodbye to him in person.

In addition to that, a surprise would be waiting for him as he'd finally meet his father.

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As Murdock could no longer keep his thoughts to himself, he walked out of the spare room he hid in and went out to the control room to visit his friend.

Eyeing his partner who remained on the umfa, curiosity stirred in his mind as Murdock's face turned aglow.

"Xabiere, what are you doing?"

Opening his eyes slowly to refocus towards the light, Xabiere answered Murdock's question.

"I was meditating to clear my mind."

Forming an "O" with his mouth and scratching his head in confusion, Murdock gawked in amusement.

"And did it relax you?"

Xabiere smiled sarcastically, while nodding his head. But he refused to share why Yoga made him feel better, as he didn't want to start another argument with his friend.

"It was. Murdock and if you want me to teach you how to meditate, I can show you the techniques later."

Xabiere added the last detail to the conversation, since he wanted to keep his friend's mouth shut from asking too many questions.

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Waking up with a mild hangover after last night's party, Frankie Smith pulled his blankets over his head. He refused to get up as his king-sized bed was his comfort zone. But the aching pain in his head wasn't something he could resist any longer.

A continuous buzzing sound from his alarm clock played on, making him agitated. Frankie couldn't find where the sound was coming from, so he mistakenly pushed the appliance from his night stand causing the glass to shatter into a million pieces. Now wide awake, Frankie rubbed his eyes to find the item he broke.

"Just great! Need to find my spare, so I don't have to purchase another clock. Oh wait, I think she took it!"

MARTINA!

Frankie's anger triggered the pain in his head again. Touching his forehead, while he sat on his bed, he decided to drink a full glass of water to ease his mood. As he got into the kitchen, he passed the lone bedroom that used to belong to his ex. He remembered how he would torment Martina even though she kept reminding him she was gay. But he grew attached to her after several months and the money her parents gave him was no longer what he wanted.

When Roman punched him in the face in the Save Mart parking lot that unfaithful day, it was his last straw to make ends meet with Martina, who eventually kissed him on his cheek. As he gulped down the glass of water, the memories came back as he reminisced those moments.

And it was weird that in his dreams, Martina's face showed up and she was calling his name to say goodbye. Frankie waved his hand, but after seeing Harley's sour face, he knew he had lost the battle.

As he placed the glass down on the counter, he told himself that it was just a dream.

"Martina will come back to me, I just know it."

As for the smashed alarm clock, he decided not to purchase another one as he had the souvenir he really wanted.

The memory of his former girlfriend was enough and nothing could beat that.